Miami Heat talking points: Brooklyn picks fights in Game 3 victory

The Heat’s second-round series took a sharp turn tonight with a 104-90 loss at Brooklyn in Game 3. Miami is still up 2-1, but has a lot to sort through before making another run at the Nets on Monday.

Brooklyn’s 14-point victory was not as close as it looked. The Nets were up with 4:43 remaining before James Jones hit three 3s to reduce Miami’s embarrassment.

After Brooklyn delivered its first punch in the series, here are some developing storylines:1. Paul Pierce, Alan Anderson fouls raise the tension.
This just became a real series. Not only did the Nets assert themselves with a thorough performance, they added some intrigue with a pair of contentious episodes. Six minutes into the game, LeBron James drove for a layup, but Pierce grabbed him from behind and tried to pull him down by his shoulders for a Flagrant 1 foul. Then in the fourth quarter, Anderson and Ray Allen were pushing for position while the Heat had the ball, and Anderson sent Allen to the floor. That might have been dismissed as merely a personal foul, but Anderson stepped forward and stood over Allen while he was down. Heat forward Chris Andersen rushed in to calm everything down and keep it from escalating. “We wouldn’t let it do that,” Chris Bosh said. “We’re here to play basketball and win a series. That has no place in the game. We don’t get caught up in those things. We’re concentrating on ball.”

2. How did Brooklyn hit all those 3-pointers?
The Nets shot 41.7 percent from 3 in Game 1 and 33.3 percent in Game 2, then unleashed a 15-for-25 night on Miami in Game 3. A significant number of those attempts were not clean looks. “A lot of the 3s they made were contested,” James said. “You clap your hands and pat them on the back for the ones they made because that’s just our scheme. You’ve don’t go into the game saying they won’t make 15. They will if we don’t get close to them and pressure them.” How likely is this trend to continue? Not very. Brooklyn hit 36.9 percent in the regular season and is at 32 percent in the playoffs. Joe Johnson (5 of 7), Mirza Teletovic (4 of 7) and Pierce (2 of 3) combined to make 11 of 17, which is unsustainable.

3. The Big Three need more help than they got.
James, Bosh and Dwyane Wade combined for 60 of Miami’s 90 points and 22 of its 31 made field goals. Jones came in late and made 3 of 3 3-pointers. The rest of the team: 21 points on 6-for-21 shooting, including 2 of 10 3-pointers. Mario Chalmers scored three points in 26 minutes. Allen was 2 for 6 and missed his only 3-point attempt. Beyond the Big Three, the top rebounder was Andersen with four. No one outside the triumvirate had more than two assists.